The subject matter for this film is interesting and I'm shocked Hollywood would even bother to make this film back in the late 50s. Because of an insane fashion craze, ladies loved having hats filled with bird plumes in the late 19th and early 20th century. The problem was that to get these plumes, bird colonies were decimated-- especially birds like snowy egrets. So, the government deputized agents to protect these birds. But how could these folks possibly enforce the laws--especially in the wild backcountry where the swamp folk lived and hunted? This is the problem in "Wind Across the Everglades" where an eager young agent (Christopher Plummer) is battling the forces of Cottonmouth (Burl Ives)--a foul man who, along with his band of rogues, raped the swamp of its birds.
This is clearly the case of a film where the subject matter is very intriguing but the execution left a lot to be desired. Too often, the film just seemed to drag and the big confrontation scene between Cottonmouth and the agent just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Nor, for that matter, did ANY of the final portion of the film make sense! I see it as a noble experiment of a film...but a failure due to problems with the silly script.
By the way, if you care, Bigamy Bob is played by the super-famous clown, Emmett Kelly and this is Peter Falk's first film.
